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Can Virtue Be Taught?

Author

Shelton, Wayne

Bibliographic Citation

Academic Medicine. 1999 Jun; 74(6): 671-674.

Abstract

Applying standards of virtue that define the "good doctor" in a
complex and technologically sophisticated health care system is often
challenging and sometimes confusing. What are the characteristics of a "good
doctor," who wishes to live up to high ethical and professional standards but
who also must live and work in a health care system in which moral ambiguity
is pervasive? Medical educators are urgently faced with such questions as
their schools try to equip students with the skills and capacities required of
the virtuous physician. The author describes how Aristotelian concepts of
virtue can be used to guide medical educators in defining and teaching virtue.
He then discusses how such traits as the ability to tolerate moral differences
and ambiguity, the ability to develop thoughtful individual moral positions,
and the capacity to respect and understand various cultural traditions may be
what might be considered virtues in today's health care system. A "good"
doctor, then, would be someone who is thoughtful, fair-minded, respectful of
differences, and committed to his or her professional values.